Q=100 √KL
Where Q is phones produced, K is capital (measured in machine-hours used) and L is labor (measured in
labor hours).
a. Graph the Q = 2000 isoquant: Set labor to 10, 20, and 40, and find the corresponding values of K. Plot
these values on your isoquant.
b. What can you say about the relative magnitude of rate of technical substitution at L=10 and at L=40?
Is the RTS greater in magnitude at L=10 than at L=40? Lower? The same? Explain. (I'm not asking for
specific values, just the ranking.)
c. Suppose technical progress generates a new production function: Q= 200 √KL
Plot the new Q-2000 isoquant, again solving for K in terms of Land plotting and labeling the K and L
combinations for L = 10, 20, and 40. Describe how this technological change affects the isoquant. (5)
d. Consider a different kind of technological change: suppose that the invention of robots with artificial
intelligence effectively makes capital and labor "perfect substitutes" in the production of IPhones. How
would this technological change affect the shape of the isoquants for IPhone production? How might it
affect the choice of K and L to produce IPhones at any given ratio of wages to capital costs? Explain. (5)
3. Cost curves, profits and losses:
a. Draw short run average cost and marginal cost curves (costs on the vertical axis, q on the horizontal
axis) for a firm characterized by an "efficient scale of production" (so average total cost falls at first as
output increases, and then it rises at high levels of output). Draw these curves so that the minimum
average cost = $6 and is found at q=10. Label everything clearly.
b. Suppose this firm faces a market price for its good of $7, and that it can sell as many units as it wishes
at this price. Add this price to your graph above, illustrate the amount of output the firm will choose to
produce (not a specific value, but just a point in your graph), and identify the area on your graph that
corresponds to the firm's profit at this price.
c. Redraw your graph from part (a), and now suppose the market price is $5. Again, illustrate the level of
output the firm will choose and the area corresponding to the firm's loss at this price.
d. Continuing with the scenario in which the price is $5: Should the firm immediately shut down
production due to its short-run losses, or might it be best for the firm to continue to operate in the short
run? Explain.
[1] What are the "choice variables and what are the "parameters' in this problem? What is the difference between them? [2] How do we know this problem has a solution? [3] Explain the relevant Lagrangian function. [4] Explain the conditions that will characterize a KT-point. [5] Use the conditions in part [4] to find the optimal consumption bundle (r*, y), and the associated Lagrange multiplier X*. [6] Explain why z* and y* can be interpreted as "functions". [7] Find the partial derivative of z* with respect to each "parameter of the problem". [8] Explain the interpretation of each partial derivate you find in part [7]. [9] Find the "indirect utility function' V = u(x, y), and explain its interpretation. [10] Find the partial derivative of V with respect to M, and explain its interpretation.
12) In the market for smartphones, the price elasticity of supply is +0.8, and the price elasticity of demand is -1.2. At equilibrium, price is $800 and quantity is 400000. (a) Assuming supply and demand are linear, reconstruct and draw the supply and demand curves. Label the intercepts. (b)To help consumers and phone-makers, the government proposes to subsidize smartphones by $80each. What are PB and PS after the subsidy? What is the new equilibrium quantity? Illustrate them on the same graph. (c) Calculate the change in consumer surplus, producer surplus, government expenditure, and dead weight loss and identify them on the graph.
7) Suppose that a consumer's marginal rate of substitution at her current chosen bundle is MUX /MUY = 4, but she is able to exchange X and Y at Px/PY = 3. Should she keep her current bundle,or can she make herself better off by trading at these prices? Which good will she buy, and which will she sell?
Question One Jane and John are a new couple trying to make a future production plan together. Assume there exist two types of production they can conduct: Household Production (HP) and Market Production (MP). If Jane does household production, her production value is $20 per hour; if she does market production, her production value is $10 per hour. If John does household production, his production value is $10 per hour; if he does market production, his production value is $20 per hour. Both Jane and John can work 8 hours on workdays. a) Calculate Jane and John's possible production frontiers (PPFs) on a workday and draw them in two diagrams. b) Combine Jane and John's PPFs in the same diagram. If both of them conduct market production, only, what would be their combined PPF? Show it in the diagram. If they do wish to keep some household production, who should do it? Show this new PPF in the diagram. Is there a limitation on this new PPF? c) On the other hand, if both Jane and John conduct household production, only, what would be their combined PPF? Show it in a diagram. If they do wish to keep some market production, who should do it? Show this new PPF in the diagram. Is there a limitation on this new PPF? d) If Jane and John "pool" their production possibilities together and split these possibilities equally between household production and market production, what would be their new PPFs? Show them in a diagram. e) Is there a gain for Jane and John to collaborate? If so, show it in a diagram.
5. (6 points) Suppose when we look at the monthly sales of hamburgers & fries in the Devil's Den, we see that when CCSU increased the price from $7 to $13, the quantity demanded fell from 8,000 meals to 4,000 meals.
QUESTION 4 A firm uses two inputs x and y, and their profit function is P(x,y)=3xy-2x+y. Input x costs $2 each and y costs $1 each and they are constrained to spend a total of $100 on inputs.
2. For each of the explanatory variables, P, CP, M and PE, calculate the respective demand elasticities for Hind Oil Industries’ product in the month September 2015. Remember to show all calculations. What additional information about Maa mustard oil do these values provide?
1. Analyze the estimated demand function by using the estimated coefficients to discuss the impact of each of the explanatory variables, P, CP, M, and PE, on the quantity of Maa mustard oil demanded. In discussing the impact, consider a one unit change in each variable while holding the others constant.
3) Illustrate the following utility functions by sketching indifference curves in the X,Y space: (Need not be to scale as long as the general shape is reasonable) (a) U(X,Y) = 2X + 3Y (perfect substitutes)(b) U(X,Y) = X1/2Y 1/2 (Cobb-Douglas) (c) Derive the expression for the Marginal Rate of Substitution for the utility functions above.
Two MSU fraternities, Phi Kappa Sigma and Phi Kappa Tau, are accustomed to each having 6 parties a month. Phi Kappa Sigma and Phi Kappa Tau are located close to each other on Bogue Street. These parties impose a negative externality on their other neighbors on Bogue Street. Suppose President Stanley decides that the socially optimal total number of parties on Bogue Street is 8 parties a month. The total benefits each fraternity derives from having a certain number of parties a month are given in the table below.